History as the Unseen Frog

Gerald
G.
Huesken
Jr.

HIST
502
–
US
History:
1815-‐1919

Dr.
Tracey
Weis

December
19,
2011

“History
as
the
Unseen
Frog”:
A
Historiographical
Journey
through
the

Anti-‐Imperialistic
Writings
of
Mark
Twain

Introduction

“To
get
the
right
word
in
the
right
place
is
a
rare
achievement,”
wrote
American
author

and
humorist
Mark
Twain
in
a
February,
1868
letter
to
seventeen-‐year
old
admirer
Emeline

Beach,
the
daughter
of
the
newspaperman,
publisher,
and
Twain
friend
Moses
S.
Beach.
“To

condense
the
diffused
light
of
a
page
of
thought
into
the
luminous
flash
of
a
single
sentence,
is

worthy
to
rank
as
a
prize
composition
just
by
itself...Anybody
can
have
ideas-‐-‐the
difficulty
is
to

express
them
without
squandering
a
quire
of
paper
on
an
idea
that
ought
to
be
reduced
to
one

glittering
paragraph.”1

As
a
true
Renaissance
man
of
the
Nineteenth
and
early-‐Twentieth

Centuries,
Mark
Twain
knew
his
way
around
words
and
it
is
through
his
fondness
for
using

them
that
he
has
found
his
way
deep
into
the
American
literary
heart.
His
wit
and
satire
earned

him
praise
from
both
critics
and
literary
peers
alike,
making
his
a
sought-‐after
lecturer
and

public
speaker.
His
catalog
of
writings
ranged
from
full
novels
to
travel
digests,
essays,

magazine
articles,
serious
journalism,
and
short
stories.
He
was
a
friend
to
presidents,
artists,

industrialists,
and
European
royalty
and,
upon
his
death
in
1910,
he
was
lauded
as
the
"greatest

American
humorist
of
his
age,”
in
a
flattering
New
York
Times
obituary
and
fellow
American

writer
William
Faulkner
called
Twain
"the
father
of
American
literature”2

Yet,
regardless
of
all
his
fame
and
success,
Twain
was
(and
remains
today)
a
man
of

deep
moral
and
philosophical
convictions
that
have
never
really
been
fully
understood
or

contextualized
by
scholars.
A
staunch
supporter
of
African-‐American
civil
rights
and
women’s

suffrage,
Twain
despised
the
practice
of
discrimination
of
any
kind.
His
glowing
endorsements

of
labor
unions
and
the
working
class
in
some
of
his
more
political
charged
essays
shows

1
Twain, Mark, and Mark Dawidziak. Mark My Words: Mark Twain on Writing. New York: St. Martin's, 1996.
Print.
2
Faulkner, William, and Robert Archibald Jelliffe. Faulkner at Nagano. Tokyo: Kenkyusha, 1956. Print.

perhaps
a
genuine
connection
to
the
“working
man”
and
his
own
humble
roots
as
a
printer’s

apprentice
in
antebellum
Missouri.
And
his
often
misunderstood
positions
on
American

Imperialism
during
the
later
part
of
the
Nineteenth
and
early-‐Twentieth
Centuries
has

remained
one
of
the
most
enduring
debates
of
Twain’s
final
legacy.
The
purpose
of
this
paper
is

to
look
at
the
history
and
circumstances
surrounding
Twain’s
anti-‐Imperialism
period
and

assess
the
state
of
the
field
in
the
scholastic
study
of
Twain’s
anti-‐Imperialist
works.
How
have

past
and
present
historians
studied,
interpreted,
and
treated
Twain’s
writings
from
this
stage
of

his
career
and
over
the
last
century
since
his
death?
Has
the
perception
changed
or
have
new

interpretations
come
to
dominate
the
conversation?
Using
a
variety
of
historical
mortifies
and

articles,
we
will
attempt
to
understand
this
complex
period
in
Twain’s
life
and
career
and
how

our
peers
in
the
historical
community
have
come
to
judge
it.

Twain’s
Anti-‐Imperialism
Period:
A
Quick
Biographical
Sketch

To
understand
the
makings
of
Mark
Twain,
the
anti-‐Imperialism
writer,
one
must
first

start
at
the
beginning
with
Twain’s
initial
literary
success,
his
financial
and
personal
hardships
in

the
late-‐Nineteenth
Century,
his
1890’s
around-‐the-‐world
speaking
tour,
and
his
subsequent

return
to
the
United
States
and
the
beginning
of
his
involvement
in
anti-‐Imperialist
activities.

Samuel
Langhorne
Clemens
(“Mark
Twain”
was
simply
a
play
on
an
old
riverboat
measuring

term
he
picked
up
during
his
days
working
on
a
Mississippi
riverboat)
found
literary
success
in

1865
as
a
humorist
at
a
time
when
most
American
were
in
desperate
need
of
a
laugh
following

the
costly
and
destructive
conclusion
to
the
American
Civil
War.3

Twain
had
traveled
west

during
the
war
at
the
invitation
of
his
brother,
Orion
Clemens,
who
was
serving
as
secretary
to

James
W.
Nye,
the
governor
of
the
Nevada
Territory.
It
was
while
traveling
cross-‐country
by

stagecoach
that
Twain
experienced
many
misadventures,
which
would
became
the
basis
for
his

early
short
stories
/
travel-‐writings
Roughing
It
and
The
Celebrated
Jumping
Frog
of
Calaveras

County.
These
early
novellas
and
travelogues
were
instantly
popular
and
became
the
basis
for

Twain’s
first
speaking
engagements,
helping
to
build
a
national
reputation
for
him
as
a
gifted,

3
Twain, Mark. Life on the Mississippi,. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1917. Print.

humorous,
and
in-‐demand
lecturer
that
would
serve
him
well
later
on
during
much
more

stressful
financial
times.4

Between
1876
and
1889,
Twain
would
move
away
from
his
original
travel-‐based

literature
into
full
length
novels
that
would
focus
on
social
and
autobiographical
topics
such
as

The
Adventures
of
Tom
Sawyer
(1876),
The
Prince
and
the
Pauper
(1881),
The
Adventures
of

Huckleberry
Finn
(1885),
and
A
Connecticut
Yankee
in
King
Arthur’s
Court
(1889).
Most
of
these

novels
were
greeted
with
both
critical
and
popular
success
and
would
give
Twain
and
his
family

the
financial
and
social
standing
that
would
allow
Twain
to
indulge
other
passions
outside
of

literature.5

As
a
young
boy,
Twain
had
always
had
a
fascination
in
science
and
technology
and

that
interest
continued
throughout
his
life.
He
would
patient
three
of
his
own
inventions
(one

of
his
earlier
inventions
included
a
replacement
for
modern-‐day
suspenders
known
as
the

“Improvement
in
Adjustable
and
Detachable
Straps
for
Garments”)
and
would
invest
heavily
in

other’s
inventions
as
well.6

In
1880,
Twain
was
approached
by
James
Paige,
an
up-‐and-‐coming

American
inventor
who
had
designed
a
new
way
to
set
moveable
type.
His
invention
was
know

as
the
“Paige
compositor”
or
as
the
“Paige
typesetting
machines”
and
it
was
designed
to

remove
the
time-‐consuming
method
of
setting
printing
type
by
hand
by
using
a
mechanical

arm.
Twain
was
enthralled
with
the
machine
and
its
implications
for
revolutionizing
the
printing

industry,
partly
because
of
this
love
for
science
and
partly
because
he
had
worked
as
a
printer’s

apprentice
during
his
youth.7

Between
1880
and
1892,
Twain
would
invest
over
$300,000
in
Paige’s
invention
(equal

to
about
$7,590,000
today),
with
most
of
this
capital
coming
from
earnings
as
a
writer
and
from

his
wife’s,
Olivia
Clemens’,
family
inheritances.
In
the
end,
however,
the
Paige
typesetting

machine
was
a
complete
disaster
and
this
poor
choice
of
investment,
coupled
with
the
eventual

mismanagement
of
the
publishing
house
Twain
had
founded,
left
the
author
deeply
in
debt
to

several
powerful
creditors.
With
the
help
of
his
friend,
industrialist
Henry
Huttleston
Rogers,

Twain
would
be
avoid
most
of
the
legal
ramifications
of
his
failed
investments
and
protect
his

4
Kaplan, Fred. The Singular Mark Twain: a Biography. New York: Doubleday, 2003. 25-55. Print.
5
Kaplan 22-55
6
Niemann, Paul J., and Kevin Cordtz. Invention Mysteries: the Little-known Stories behind Well-known Inventions.
Quincy, IL: Horsefeathers Pub., 2004. 53-54. Print.
7
Gold, Charles H. "Hatching Ruin": Mark Twain's Road to Bankruptcy. St. Louis: University of Missouri, 2005. 35-
45. Print.

ownership
rights
to
some
of
his
most
famous
published
works,
but
the
episode
left
him

depressed
and
disheartened,
feeling
as
though
the
American
system
he
had
put
his
faith
in
had

misused
and
abandon
him.8

In
1894,
following
the
conclusion
of
his
bankruptcy
proceedings,
Twain
accepted
an

invitation
to
undertake
a
round-‐the-‐world
lecture
tour
at
the
behest
of
several
prominent

British
newspapers
and
Twain
admirers.
Twain’s
reasoning
for
accepting
such
a
physically

daunting
task,
as
a
global
speaking
tour,
was
two
fold.
First,
he
wanted
to
get
away
from
the

memories
of
his
recent
unpleasantness
with
the
failed
Paige
investment
and,
secondly,
he

wanted
to
make
sure
that
his
creditors
were
paid
in
full
for
the
money
they
had
lost,
even

though
he
was
under
no
legal
obligation
anymore
to
fulfill
such
debts.
It
was
during
this
trans-‐
global
experience,
particularly
during
his
stops
across
the
British
Empire
in
India
and
South

Africa,
that
Twain
came
face
to
face
for
the
first
time
with
the
practice
of
European
Imperialism

and,
as
he
claimed
later
both
publicly
and
privately,
the
inhuman
effects
of
this
practice
on
the

native
populations
of
the
areas
he
visited.
In
interviews
given
upon
his
return
to
the
United

States
in
1900,
Twain
admitted
that
he
had
had
little
interest
in
the
idea
or
politics
of

Imperialism
prior
to
the
turn
of
the
century
and
had
even
admitted
to
being
a
supporter
of
it
at

one
point,
calling
for
the
American
annexation
of
the
Hawaiian
Islands
and
even
being
a
early

supporter
of
American
involvement
in
the
Cuban
struggle
for
independence
from
Spain.
For

whatever
reason,
however,
following
his
speaking
tour,
Twain’s
viewpoint
on

Imperialism
had
radically
changed.9

From
1901
until
his
death
in
1910,
Twain
would
work
fervently
as
a
writer,
social
critic,

and
activist
for
the
cause
of
anti-‐Imperialism
around
the
world.
He
would
speak
out
strongly

against
American
involvement
in
the
Spanish-‐American
War
in
1898
and
was
especially
critical

of
the
American
annexation
of
the
Philippines
and
the
ensuing
Philippine-‐American
War
as
the

U.S.
military
attempted
the
pacify
the
rebellious
natives.
He
served
as
president
of
American

Anti-‐Imperialist
League
and
wrote
several
pamphlets
for
the
organization
that
was
especially

critical
of
American
involvement
in
Imperialistic
causes
in
Latin
America.
His
most
famous
work

8
Kirk, Connie Ann. Mark Twain: a Biography. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2004. Print.
9
Emerson, Everett H. The Authentic Mark Twain: a Literary Biography of Samuel L. Clemens. Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania, 1984. 200-34. Print.

as
a
pamphleteer
was
the
controversial
The
Incident
in
the
Philippines,
posthumously
published

in
1924,
which
was
written
in
response
to
the
Moro
Crater
Massacre,
in
which
six
hundred

Pilipino
Moros
(including
women
and
children)
were
slaughtered
by
American
troops.
Twain

also
wrote
a
number
of
short
stories
and
editorial
essays
that
found
their
way
into
popular

mainstream
newspapers.
His
most
famous
tracts
included
the
1899
short
story
The
Man
That

Corrupted
Hadleyburg
(which
tells
the
story
of
corruption
in
a
small
town
community
which

mirrored
corruption
in
Imperialistic
countries),
the
satirical
essay
“To
the
Person
Sitting
in

Darkness”
(which
detailed
Twains
feelings
about
the
crushing
of
the
Boxer
Rebellion
in
China
by

international
forces,
the
outcome
of
the
South
African
Boer
War,
and
the
American
war
in
the

Philippines),
and
the
short
pacifist
story
entitled
The
War
Prayer
that
was
inspired
by
the

Philippine-‐American
War,
which
makes
the
point
that
humanism
and
Christianity's
preaching
of

love
are
incompatible
with
the
conduct
of
war.

Many
of
Twain’s
anti-‐Imperialist
short
stories
and
essays
found
publication,
but
a

number
were
rejected
as
too
controversial
for
mainstream
readers.
The
War
Prayer,
for

example,
was
submitted
to
the
American
fashion
magazine
Harper's
Bazaar
for
publication,
but

the
magazine
rejected
it.
Eight
days
later,
Twain
wrote
to
his
friend
Daniel
Carter
Beard,
to

whom
he
had
read
the
story,
"I
don't
think
the
prayer
will
be
published
in
my
time.
None
but

the
dead
are
permitted
to
tell
the
truth."10

The
Prayer
would
remain
unpublished
until
1923

and
many
of
Twain’s
neglected
and
previously
uncollected
writings
on
anti-‐Imperialism
would

later
appeared
for
the
first
time
in
book
form
in
1992.11

Because
of
such
rejections
many
of

Twain’s
most
scathing
indictments
against
the
Imperialist
powers
would
remain
under
lock
and

key
until
historians
eventually
uncovered
them
decades
later.

Twain
was
also
vehemently
critical
of
Imperialism
outside
of
the
United
States
as
well.
In

his
1897
short
novella
Following
the
Equator,
which
was
based
on
his
experiences
during
his

lecture
tour,
Twain
expressed
"hatred
and
condemnation
of
imperialism
of
all

stripes."12

He
highly
critical
of
the
British
in
India
and
South
Africa
as
well
as
Belgium
king,

10
Scott, Helen (Winter 2000). "The Mark Twain They Didn’t Teach Us About in School". International Socialist
Review. 10. pp. 61–65
11
Twain, Mark, and Jim Zwick. Mark Twain's Weapons of Satire: Anti-imperialist Writings on the Philippine-
American War. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse UP, 1992. Print.
12
Ibid Scott

Leopold
II,
for
which
he
wrote
his
famous
1905
satirical
essay
“King
Leopold's
Soliloquy”,
a

stinging
political
satire
written
from
the
point
of
view
of
King
Leopold
II
himself,
in
which
we

raves
about
the
great
things
he
has
done
for
the
people
for
the
Congo,
while
making
light
of
the

large
scale
human
rights
abuses
that
were
taking
place
in
the
Belgium
colony.
Many
readers
of

Twain’s
earlier
writings
were
unsure
of
how
to
take
his
new
anti-‐Imperialistic
approach,

especially
when
put
into
the
light
of
Twain’s
many
other
literary
criticisms
of
the
time.
Needless

to
say,
Twain
is
remembered
today
as
one
of
the
more
prominent
Americans
who
spoke
out

against
the
practices
and
policies
of
Imperialism,
both
in
the
United
States
and
abroad.

Twain,
The
Anti-‐Imperialist:
A
Historiography
(1940’s-‐1990’s)

Upon
his
death
in
1910,
Twain
left
behind
a
vast
catalog
of
published
and
unpublished

work
dealing
with
Imperialism
that
was
deemed
too
radical
or
two
controversial
for
the
time

period
for
mass
publication.
Since
the
1940’s,
historians
have
sought
over
the
decades
for
a

way
to
catalog,
interpret,
and
draw
historical
context
and
lessons
from
Twain’s
anti-‐
Imperialistic
viewpoints.
One
of
the
earliest
historians
to
take
a
look
at
Twain’s
anti-‐
Imperialistic
writings
was
William
M.
Gibson,
a
scholar
who
was
widely
known
in
intellectual

circles
as
a
Twain
historian
and
had
worked
on
the
editing
of
Mark
Twain’s
private
papers
at
the

University
of
California
at
Berkeley.

In
1947,
Gibson
submitted
an
article
for
publication
in
the

New
England
Quarterly
entitled
“Mark
Twain
and
Howells:
Anti-‐Imperialists”,
which
was
the

first
serious
historical
attempt
to
try
and
put
out
to
the
general
public
the
motivations
and

reasons
for
Twain’s
phase.

In
his
article,
Gibson
points
to
Twain’s
friendship
with
American
realist
author,
Socialist

activist,
and
literary
critic
William
Dean
Howells
as
his
reasoning
for
why
Twain
delved
into
the

realm
of
anti-‐Imperialism.
Howells
was
a
vocal
critic
of
Imperialism
throughout
much
of
his
life

and
his
friendship
with
Twain,
which
dated
back
to
the
1860’s,
was
a
major
influence
on
Twain

following
his
experiences
in
his
tour,
so
states
Gibson.13

In
particular,
Gibson

pointed
to
the
spring
of
1899
when
Twain’s
tone
towards
Imperialism
in
his
many
travel
logs

and
notebooks
changed.
As
to
why
this
is,
Gibson
is
unsure,
but
suggests
that
it
might
have
had

13
Gibson, William M. "Mark Twain and Howells: Anti-Imperialists." The New England Quarterly 20.4 (1947): 435-
70. Print.

partly
to
do
with
the
increased
American
military
presents
in
the
Philippines
(which
would

become
Twain’s
main
bone
of
contention),
the
mass
media
storm
that
surrounded
the
signing

of
the
1898
Treaty
of
Paris
(which
ended
the
Spanish-‐American
War
and
brought
on
the

American
occupation
of
Cuba),
and
the
death
of
Twain’s
favorite
daughter,
Olivia
Susan
“Susy”

Clemens,
in
1896.14

Gibson
goes
on
in
his
article
to
also
cite
that
the
reason
why
a
large
amount

of
Twain’s
anti-‐Imperialist
writings
went
unpublished
during
his
lifetime
was
because
Twain

feared
that
alienating
the
public
too
much
towards
a
popularly
supported
issue
would
result
in

a
return
of
his
family
to
their
previous
financial
woes.15

While
Gibson
represents
the
start
of
serious
historical
study
into
Twain’s
anti-‐Imperialist

past,
it
would
not
be
for
another
decade
before
a
fellow
historian
would
answer
Gibson’s

thesis.
In
1957,
historian
Sherwood
Cummings
wrote
his
own
response
to
Gibson’s
research
in

an
article
entitled
“Mark
Twain’s
Social
Darwinism”
for
a
publication
of
The
Huntington
Library

Quarterly.

In
his
tract,
Cummings
acknowledges
Gibson’s
thesis
and
commends
his
opening
of

the
conversation
about
Twain’s
anti-‐Imperialist
thoughts,
but
disagrees
as
to
the
motives
of

Twain’s
writings.16

In
his
thesis,
Cummings
argues
that
Twain
was
a
man
deeply
rooted
in
the

study
of
science
and
his
personality
was
an
ever-‐growing
battle
between
his
belief
in
the

writings
of
Charles
Darwin
and
his
own
feelings
of
human
potential.17

The
collapse
of
his

original
fortune
in
1880’s
and
1890’s
through
bad
investments
and
bad
business,
was
the

antitheses
of
Twain’s
“science
passion”;
his
belief
that
the
ideals
of
Social
Darwinism
could
be

applied
to
modern
society
and
that
he
had
become
another
example
in
this
evolutionary

lesson.
Therefore,
Cummings
concludes,
Twain’s
writing
were
a
direct
result

of
his
trying
to
point
this
social
ideal
out
to
others
by
using
an
example
that
everyone
was

familiar
with
at
the
time
and
was
only
visible
when
Twain
was
at
his
wits
end
(his
bankruptcy,

his
family
issues,
etc.).
When
his
life
was
“cheerful
and
prosperous”,
contends
Cummings,

Twain
had
no
interest
in
the
issue
of
Imperialism
thus
why
he
ceased
writing
about
it
shortly

14
Gibson 439-443
15
Ibid 470
16
Cummings, Sherwood. "Mark Twain's Social Darwinism." Huntington Library Quarterly 20.2 (1957): 163-75.
Print.
17
Cummings 175

before
his
death.18

To
back
up
his
thesis,
Cummings
pointed
to
the
collection
of
over
twenty-‐
eight
book
titles
in
Twain’s
personal
library
that
related
to
a
scientific
topic.19

The
1950’s
also
saw
the
publication
of
American
Marxist
labor
historian
and
professor

Phillip
S.
Foner’s
book,
Mark
Twain:
Social
Critic
(1958).
A
graduate
of
City
College
in
New
York

City
and
Columbia
University,
Foner
was
renowned
through
the
United
States
more
for
his

political
affiliations
then
his
scholarly
work.
He
had
been
removed
from
his
teaching
position
at

City
College
in
1941
for
his
ties
to
the
American
Communist
Party
and
his
political
leanings

seemed
to
be
verified
for
many
when
he
had
begun
working
as
the
chief
editor
for

International
Publishers
in
1947,
a
publishing
company
that
specialized
in
Marxist
works
of

economics,
political
science,
and
history
as
well
was
having
close
working
tied
to
the

Communist
Party
USA.20

In
his
book,
Foner
tried
to
show
Twain’s
thoughts
on
a
number
of

social
issues,
including
Imperialism,
and
concluded
that
had
Twain
been
alive
in
the
1950’s,
he

might
have
had
sympathies
for
some
of
Foner’s
own
Marxist
political
standings.
Throughout
his

early
writing
career,
Foner
argues,
Twain
held
a
long
running
discussed
for
individuals
who
used

their
wealth
for
political
means
and
that
this
disgust
could
be
traced
through
many
of
Twain’s

popular
works.21

According
to
Foner,
Twain’s
anti-‐Imperialist
streak
began
with
the
annexation

of
the
Hawaiian
Islands,
which
Twain
had
seen
as
an
attempt
by
American
businessmen
to
fight

off
European
attempts
to
invest
the
islands
and
feared
that
American
involvement
in
Cuba
and

the
Philippines
would
result
in
a
“war
of
conquest”
around
the
world.22

In
the
conclusion
to
his

book,
Foner
argues
that
Twain’s
anti-‐Imperialist
views
were
rooted
in
the
belief
that
the
United

State’s
democratic
heritage
was
under
attack
by
a
“dictatorship
of
wealth”
and
that
Twain

became
involved
in
anti-‐Imperialist
activities
as
a
way
to
expose
and
criticize
this
march

towards
bourgeoisie
totalitarianism
around
the
globe.23

The
1960’s
would
see
a
re-‐interest
in
Twain’s
anti-‐Imperialist
writings,
particularly
by

the
anti-‐Vietnam
War
contingent
of
American
society,
who
reprinted
Twain’s
War
Prayer
was
a

18
Ibid
19
Cummings 165
20
Herbert Shapiro, "Philip Sheldon Foner (b. 1910)," in Mari Jo Buhle, Paul Buhle, and Dan Georgakas (eds.),
Encyclopedia of the American Left. First edition. New York: Garland Publishing Co., 1990; pp. 232-233.
21
Foner, Philip Sheldon. Mark Twain: Social Critic. New York: International, 1966, p. 86. Print.
22
Ibid 332
23
Ibid 392

symbolic
protest
towards
American
involvement
in
Southeast
Asia.
The
1960’s
also
saw
another

historian
weighting
into
the
discussion
from
a
scholarly
point
of
view
on
Twain’s
anti-‐
Imperialistic
writings.
In
1962,
Duke
University
history
professor
Louis
J.
Budd
picked
up
the

discussion
with
a
book
entitled
Mark
Twain:
Social
Philosopher
(1962).
Within
this
publication,

Budd
attempted
to
answer
Foner’s
Marxist
accusations
of
Twain
and
dismissed
them
outright.24

While
Forner
might
dwell
on
Marxist
philosopher,
quibbled
Budd,
the
real
reason
for
Twain’s

seemingly
Socialist-‐flavored
feelings
might
be
more
due
to
the
idea
that
Twain
just
hated

individual
greed
in
all
aspects
of
human
life,
not
just
in
the
political
realm.25

Twain
historian

John
M.
Durham
Jr.
tended
to
agree
with
Budd
when
he
presented
his
own
interpretation
of

Twain
the
anti-‐Imperialist
in
the
1965
issue
of
the
Spanish
historical
journal
Revista
de
Letras

with
his
article
“Mark
Twain
and
Imperialism”.
According
to
Durham,
Twain’s
reasoning
for

becoming
an
anti-‐Imperials
stemmed
from
his
hatred
of
greed
and
slavery
and
that
his
writings

were
not
really
much
more
then
an
average
observer
who
didn’t
grasp
the
full
concept
of
the

issue
he
was
writing
about,
rather
than
the
all
seeing,
political-‐savvy
Marxist
Foner
had

depicted.26

Twain
was
known
throughout
his
life
to
be
an
adamant
supporter
of
abolition
of
slavery

and
emancipation
for
African-‐Americans,
even
going
so
far
to
say
“Lincoln's
[Emancipation]

Proclamation
...
not
only
set
the
black
slaves
free,
but
set
the
white
man
free
also.”27

He
argued

that
non-‐whites
did
not
receive
justice
in
the
United
States,
once
saying
“I
have
seen
Chinamen

abused
and
maltreated
in
all
the
mean,
cowardly
ways
possible
to
the
invention
of
a
degraded

nature....but
I
never
saw
a
Chinaman
righted
in
a
court
of
justice
for
wrongs
thus
done
to

him.”28

With
this
evidence
in
toe,
Durham
makes
the
argument
that
Twain’s
hatred
of

Imperialism
was
grounded
more
in
his
hatred
of
seeing
other
African
peoples,
particularly
in

British
South
Africa,
being
abused
and
enslaved
and
points
to
the
verminous
comments
Twain

put
in
his
travel
notebooks
concerning
English-‐born
South
African
businessman,
mining

24
Budd, Louis J. Mark Twain: Social Philosopher. Bloomington: Indiana Univ., 1962, p. 177-178 Print.
25
Budd 177-178
26
Durham Jr., John M. "Mark Twain and Imperialism." Revista De Letras 6 (1965): 67-80. Print.
27
Foner 200
28
Maxwell Geismar, ed., Mark Twain and the Three Rs: Race, Religion, Revolution and Related Matters
(Indianapolis: Bobs-Merrill, 1973), p. 98. Print

magnate,
and
politician
Cecil
Rhodes.29

As
the
founder
of
the
diamond
company
De
Beers,

Rhodes
was
a
major
force
in
British
Imperialism
in
Africa
and
became
the
poster-‐child
for

everything
Twain
saw
wrong
with
the
European
Imperialistic
experiment
in
Africa.

Durham
also
attempts
in
his
article
to
explain
why
only
selective
works
of
Twain’s
anti-‐
Imperialist
period
were
ever
published
during
his
lifetime.
One
explanation
Durham
gives
is
that

Twain
was
astutely
aware
of
the
messy
international
rivalries
and
alliances
that
existed
in

Europe
prior
to
the
First
World
War
and
that
he
kept
some
of
his
harshest
anti-‐Imperialist

criticisms
out
of
the
media
out
of
political
fears
of
Germany
and
Russia.30

Durham
also
believes,

like
Gibson,
that
Twain’s
fear
of
bad
publicity
would
equal
a
return
to
the
poorhouse
for
himself

and
his
family.
Referring
to
American
public
opinion
as
a
“delicate
fabric”
in
one
of
his
letters,

Twain,
Durham
concludes,
did
not
publish
many
of
his
harshest
critics
out
of

fear
for
his
own
financial
security.31

The
debate
over
Twain’s
motivations
for
his
anti-‐Imperialist
writings
would
go
through

another
cold
spell
during
the
1980’s
and
would
be
largely
forgotten
until
1993
when
professor

and
head
of
the
University
of
Southern
Florida
English
department,
Hunt
Hawkins,
reignited
the

conversation
with
a
article
in
the
journal
American
Literary
Realism
entitled
“Mark
Twain’s
Anti-‐
Imperialism”.
Dismissing
Foner’s
thesis
outright
and
acknowledging
that
Budd’s
reasons
might

be,
at
least
on
the
surface,
more
believable,
Hawkins
painted
a
picture
of
Twain
as
a
man
who

was
channeling
the
spirit
of
American
patriotism
and
wanting
to
be
seen
for
posterity
among

the
great
social
critics
of
his
generation.32

Through
his
research,
Hawkins
had
concluded
that

Twain
was
a
great
admirer
of
those
throughout
American
history
who
had
stood
up
to

tyrannical
authority.33

Therefore,
it
was
this
admiration
that
pushed
Twain
to
speak
out
and

actively
support
anti-‐Imperialist
causes
even
at
the
fear
of
his
own
beleaguered
financial
past.34

As
for
Twain’s
reasons
for
not
publishing
all
of
his
anti-‐Imperialist
tracts
in
the
early
part
of
the

Twentieth
Century,
Hawkins
believed
it
had
less
to
do
with
Twain’s
fear
of
financial
instability

29
Durham 68
30
Durham 69
31
Ibid 75
32
Hawkins, Hunt. "Mark Twain's Anti-Imperialism." American Literary Realism, 1870-1910 25.2 (1993): 31-33.
Print.
33
Hawkins 33
34
Ibid 37

and
more
to
do
with
his
slowly
forming
syndical
discussed
for
humanity
as
a
whole.
According

to
this
theory,
Hawkins
argues
that
Twain
started
to
loose
faith
more
and
more
in
the
potential

of
humanity
following
the
crushing
the
Filipino
insurrection
in
1902
and
the
refusal
of
American

politicians
to
decisively
act
in
defense
of
the
abused
when
it
came
to
European
Imperialism
in

the
Congo.35

In
a
way,
it
could
be
argued
that
Hawkins
draws
a
bit
from
Cummings
that
the

lessons
of
Social
Darwinism
were
taking
their
toll
on
the
aging
author
and
humorist.

“Assessing
the
State
of
the
Field”:
Mark
Twain,
the
Anti-‐Imperialist,
and
Today

Since
the
turn
of
the
Twenty-‐First
Century,
almost
one
hundred
years
since
Twain
first

started
writing
his
anti-‐Imperialist
tracts,
the
current
state
of
historical
discussion
about
the

meanings,
influences,
and
narrative
about
these
writings
has
been
influenced
by
a
number
of

modern-‐day
historians
who
continue
to
debate
and
interpret
Twain’s
writings
in
new
and

different
ways.
In
2000,
historian
Peter
West
wrote
an
article
for
the
South
Atlantic
Review

entitled
“To
the
Reader
Sitting
in
the
Dark:
Mark
Twain’s
The
Man
Who
Corrupted
Hadleyburg”.

Based
around
two
of
Twain’s
most
famous
anti-‐Imperialists
works,
the
essay
“To
the
Person

Sitting
in
the
Dark”
(1901)
and
the
short
story
The
Man
Who
Corrupted
Hadleyburg
(1899),

West
argues
that
Twain
specifically
chose
to
have
his
anti-‐Imperialist
views
aired
in
newspaper

serials
rather
than
full-‐fledged
novels
because
he
had
come
to
understand
the
power
of
the

mainstream
media
during
his
lecture
tour
in
the
1890’s.
According
to
West,

while
Twain
was
touring
Europe,
the
author
had
a
stop
over
in
Vienna
(the
capital
of
the

powerful
Austro-‐Hungarian
Empire)
and
observed
first-‐hand
the
power
and
influence
of
public

opinion
and
the
written
word
on
popular
opinion.36

West,
therefore,
argues
that
Twain
was

one
of
the
first
true
“opinion
leaders”
of
the
Twentieth
Century
as
he
tried
to
use
his

newspaper
connections
and
his
pamphleteering
skills
to
rally
public
opinion
against
the

Imperialists.

Probably
the
most
prominent
historian
to
tackle
the
issue
of
Twain’s

writings
in
the
Twenty-‐First
Century
was
Syracuse
University
professor
and
historical
Internet

35
Ibid 37-43
36
West, Peter. "To the Reader Sitting in Darkness: Mark Twain's "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg"" South
Atlantic Review 65.1 (2000): 59. Print.

pioneer
Jim
Zwick,
who
dedicated
much
of
his
post-‐graduate
study
to
the
scholarship
of
Twain’s

anti-‐Imperialist
writings.
In
a
chapter
for
Shirley
Fishkin’s
2002
book,
A
Historical
Guide
to
Mark

Twain,
on
the
issue
of
Mark
Twain
and
Imperialism,
Zwick
distanced
himself
from
many
earlier

Twain
historians
who
cited
his
lecture
tour
as
the
catalyst
for
his
anti-‐
Imperialistic
views.
Rather,
Zwick
argued
that
Twains
resentment
of
Imperialism
was
rooted
in

his
childhood
experiences
during
America’s
first
Imperialistic
phase
–
the
Westward
expansion

movement
of
the
1860’s-‐1880’s
–
as
well
as
his
pre-‐fame
1866
trip
to
Hawaii
as
a
roving

reporter
for
the
California-‐based
newspaper
The
Sacramento
Union.37

It
was
during
this
first

trip
outside
the
continental
United
States,
argues
Zwick,
that
Twain
experienced
first
hand
how

a
tropical
paradise
and
innocent
native
population
could
be
used
and
abused
by
American

political
and
business
interests.38

Fellow
modern
Twain
historian
Amy
Kaplan
agreed
with

Zwick’s
Hawaii
connection
to
Twain’s
anti-‐Imperialist
views,
citing
it
as
a
bittersweet
episode
in

Twain’s
career
in
a
chapter
on
Twain
and
Imperialist
for
the
2006
Amy
Lang
and
Cecelia
Tichi

book,
What
Democracy
Looks
like
a
New
Critical
Realism
for
a
Post-‐Seattle
World.
In
her

section,
Kaplan
further
cement’s
Zwick’s
argument
by
pointing
to
Twain’s
own
dispatches
and

letters
and
makes
the
assertion
that
Twain
used
the
thoughts
and
feelings
from
his
Hawaiian

excursion
to
form
an
“allegory
for
Imperialism”
that
would
influence
his
later
works
in
the

1900’s.39

Kaplan
also
tries
to
relate
Twain’s
anti-‐Imperialist
streak
to
modern-‐day
issues
of

“nation-‐building”,
claiming
that
Twain’s
satirical
writing
teaches
us
much
about
the
future

when
we
look
at
issues
such
as
American
involvement
in
Iraq.40

Anther
modern-‐day
Twain
historian
who
picked
up
Kaplan’s
connection
to
more

contemporary
nation-‐building
and
Twain’s
writings
was
Augusta
College
political
science
and

international
affairs
professor
Joel
Johnson,
who
applied
Kaplan’s
Iraqi
connection
to
one
of

Twain’s
most
celebrated
works
A
Connecticut
Yankee
in
King
Arthur’s
Court
(1889)
for
the
2007

issue
of
the
journal
Perspectives
in
Politics
in
an
article
entitled
“A
Connecticut
Yankee
in

Saddam’s
Court:
Mark
Twain
on
Benevolent
Imperialism”.
In
the
article,
Johnson
thesis

37
Fishkin, Shelley Fisher. A Historical Guide to Mark Twain. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Print, p. 227.
38
Ibid 229
39
Lang, Amy Schrager, and Cecelia Tichi. What Democracy Looks like a New Critical Realism for a Post-Seattle
World. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2006, p. 70-72. Print.
40
Ibid 69

revolved
around
the
idea
that
the
main
character
in
Twain’s
book,
industrialist
Hank
Morgan,

and
his
incursion
into
Camelot
is
similar
to
the
American
intervention
in
Iraq
after
the

September
11th

terrorist
attacks
and
that,
by
understanding
the
below
the
surface
lessons

Twain
is
trying
to
put
out
there
in
this
novel,
we
as
American
can
better
understand
our

conflicting
thoughts
and
emotions
towards
modern-‐day
nation-‐building.41

Within
his
work,

Johnson
goes
on
to
argue
that
the
character
of
Hank
Morgan
grew
out
of
Twain’s
frustration

with
the
greed
and
neglect
of
the
Industrial
Age
(could
his
be
his
failed
investment
in
Paige

popping
up
again?)
and
that
Morgan’s
character
traits
of
overconfidence
and
hypocritical
view

of
social
values
show
this.42

Johnson
also
claims
that
this
ongoing
debate
between
that
of

technological
advantage
and
traditional
value
play
out
Twain’s
own
anti-‐Imperialist
views
that

can
transcend
the
centuries
to
our
modern
issues
with
the
War
on
Terrorism.43

In
his
final

analysis
of
Twain
and
Imperialism,
Johnson
feels
that
Twain
did
not
disapprove
of
Imperialism’s

end
goal
as
some
earlier
Twain
historians
had
asserted,
but
rather
despised
the
“unfair
tactics

used”
by
the
Imperialist
to
accomplish
their
goal
such
as
subversion
of
native
cultures
and

outright
military
violence.
This
is
why
in
the
end,
Johnson
argues,
Twain
choose
to
join
the
anti-‐
Imperialist
ranks
and
why
he
was
so
vocal
about
only
violent
Imperialist
topics
like
the
Boxer

Rebellion,
the
Boer
War,
and
the
American-‐Pilipino
conflict.44

Conclusion
–
Where
does
the
Future
of
Twain’s
Anti-‐Imperialists
Scholarship
Lie?

In
the
final
analysis
of
Mark
Twain,
the
anti-‐Imperialist
crusader,
it
is
hard
to
settle
on

one
specific
explanation
by
the
dozens
of
historians
who
have
weighted
in
the
debate
over
the

decades.
It
is
true,
however,
that
the
state
of
the
field
in
this
avenue
of
American
historical

study
is
anything
but
cold.
In
January
of
2012,
the
one-‐hundred
and
twenty-‐sixth
annual

meeting
of
the
American
Historical
Association
while
convene
in
Chicago
and
some
of
the

discussions
and
lectures
scheduled
for
this
conference
deal
with
past
and
present

interpretation
of
Imperialism
that
may
bring
Twain’s
anti-‐Imperialist
writings
once
again
to
the

41
Johnson, Joel A. "A Connecticut Yankee in Saddam's Court: Mark Twain on Benevolent Imperialism."
Perspectives on Politics 5.01 (2007): 50. Print.
42
Johnson 53-54
43
Ibid 54-55
44
Ibid 56

historical
forefront.
On
January
5th
,
a
panel
discussion
of
research
papers
will
be
held
to
look
at

the
issue
of
the
internationalization
of
American
education
during
the
early
Twenty-‐First

Century.
One
of
the
papers
under
discussion
for
this
session
will
be
by
American
University

professor
Allen
J.
Mikaelian,
who
will
be
discussion
American
educational
demands
during
the

Age
of
Imperialism
in
the
early
1900’s.
It
is
not
a
stretch
of
the
imagination
to
see
Twain’s

influence
becoming
a
part
of
the
roundtable
discussion.

Another
panel
discussion
that
has

equal
opportunity
for
Twain
anti-‐Imperialist
scholars
is
a
conversation
on
the
idea
of
social

progress
in
Latin
America,
particularly
Argentina,
Chile,
and
Mexico
during
the
late
Nineteenth

Century.
Latin
American
has
long
been
a
subject
of
American
Imperialistic
ambitions
from
the

Spanish-‐American
War,
through
the
Cold
War,
and
to
the
present
so
there
is
a
likelihood
that

scholars
may
bring
up
some
of
the
ideas
and
criticisms
of
American
Imperialism
in
this
area
of

the
world
as
they
relate
to
Mark
Twain
and
his
period
writings.

Regardless
of
what
is
really
discussed
or
not
discussed
in
the
historical
exchange
of
this

or
any
other
historical
sessions,
one
thing
is
beyond
doubt.
Historians,
authors,
and
scholars

will
continue
to
debate
the
true
meaning
and
message
behind
Mark
Twain’s
animatic
anti-‐
Imperialistic
writings
for
many
years
to
come
and
perhaps
the
full
truth
and
explanation
to

Twain’s
motives
and
meanings
will
never
fully
be
understood.
As
the
great
American
writer

himself
said
in
his
fictional
short-‐story
The
Secret
History
of
Eddypus:
“One
of
the
most

admirable
things
about
history
is,
that
almost
as
a
rule
we
get
as
much
information
out
of
what

[history]
does
not
say
as
we
get
out
of
what
it
does
say.
And
so,
one
may
truly
and
axiomatically

aver
this,
to-‐wit:
that
history
consists
of
two
equal
parts;
one
of
these
halves
is
statements
of

fact,
the
other
half
is
inference,
drawn
from
the
facts.
To
the
experienced
student
of
history

there
are
no
difficulties
about
this;
to
him
the
half,
which
is
unwritten,
is
as
clearly
and
surely

visible,
by
the
help
of
scientific
inference,
as
if
it
flashed
and
flamed
in
letters
of
fire
before
his

eyes.
When
the
practiced
eye
of
the
simple
peasant
sees
the
half
of
a
frog
projecting
above
the

water,
he
unerringly
infers
the
half
of
the
frog,
which
he
does
not
see.
To
the
expert
student
in

our
great
science,
history
is
a
frog;
half
of
it
is
submerged,
but
he
knows
it
is
there,
and
he

knows
the
shape
of
it.”45

45
Twain, Mark, and Jim Zwick. Mark Twain's Weapons of Satire: Anti-imperialist Writings on the Philippine-
American War. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse UP, 1992. Print.

History as the Unseen Frog

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